Japan ( i /dpn/; Japanese: Nihon or

Nippon, officially Nippon-koku or Nihonkoku) is an island nation in East Asia.[9] Located in

the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of
Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia,
stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to
the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south. The
characters that make up Japan's name mean "sunorigin", which is why Japan is sometimes referred
to as the "Land of the Rising Sun".
Japan is an archipelago of 6,852 islands.[10] The
four largest islands are Honsh, Hokkaid, Kysh
and Shikoku, together accounting for ninety-seven
percent of Japan's land area. Japan has the world's
tenth-largest population, with over 127 million
people. The Greater Tokyo Area, which includes the
de facto capital city of Tokyo and several
surrounding prefectures, is the largest
metropolitan area in the world, with over 30 million
residents.
Archaeological research indicates that people lived
in Japan as early as the Upper Paleolithic period.
The first written mention of Japan is in Chinese
history texts from the 1st century AD. Influence
from other nations followed by long periods of
isolation has characterized Japan's history. In the
late 19th and early 20th centuries victory in the
First Sino-Japanese War, the Russo-Japanese War,
and World War I allowed Japan to expand its
empire during a period of increasing militarism.

The Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937 expanded

into part of World War II, which brought to an end
in 1945 by the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and
Nagasaki. Since adopting its revised constitution in
1947, Japan has maintained a unitary
constitutional monarchy with an emperor and an
elected parliament called the Diet.
A major economic power,[2] Japan has the world's
third-largest economy by nominal GDP[11] and by
purchasing power parity. It is also the world's
fourth largest exporter and fourth largest importer.
Although Japan has officially renounced its right to
declare war, it maintains a modern military force in
self-defense and peacekeeping roles. After
Singapore, Japan has the lowest homicide
(including attempted homicide) rate in the world.
[12]
According to both UN and WHO estimates,
Japan has the longest life expectancy of any
country in the world. According to the UN, it has
the third lowest infant mortality rate.[13][14]
CONTENTS
Etymology
Main article: Names of Japan
The English word Japan is an exonym. The
Japanese names for Japan are Nippon (?)
listen (helpinfo) and Nihon (?) listen
(helpinfo); both names are written using the kanji
. The Japanese name Nippon is used for most
official purposes, including on Japanese yen,

postage stamps, and for many international

sporting events. Nihon is a more casual term and is
used in contemporary speech. Japanese people
refer to themselves as Nihonjin (?) and to
their language as Nihongo (?). Both Nippon
and Nihon mean "sun-origin" and are often
translated as Land of the Rising Sun. This
nomenclature comes from Japanese missions to
Imperial China and refers to Japan's eastward
position relative to China. Before Nihon came into
official use, Japan was known as Wa (?) or
Wakoku (?).[15]
The English word for Japan came to the West via
early trade routes. The early Mandarin or possibly
Wu Chinese () word for Japan was recorded by
Marco Polo as Cipangu. In modern Shanghainese, a
Wu dialect, the pronunciation of characters
'Japan' is Zeppen [zpn]. The old Malay word for
Japan, Jepang, was borrowed from a Chinese
language, and this Malay word was encountered by
Portuguese traders in Malacca in the 16th century.
It is thought the Portuguese traders were the first
to bring the word to Europe. It was first recorded in
English in a 1565 letter, spelled Giapan.[16]
History
Prehistory and ancient history
The Golden Hall and five-storey pagoda of Hry-ji,
among the oldest wooden buildings in the world,

National Treasures, and a UNESCO World Heritage

Site
A Paleolithic culture around 30,000 BC constitutes
the first known habitation of Japan. This was
followed from around 14,000 BC (the start of the
Jmon period) by a Mesolithic to Neolithic semisedentary hunter-gatherer culture, who include
ancestors of both the contemporary Ainu people
and Yamato people,[17][18] characterized by pit
dwelling and rudimentary agriculture.[19] Decorated
clay vessels from this period are some of the
oldest surviving examples of pottery in the world.
Around 300 BC, the Yayoi people began to enter
the Japanese islands, intermingling with the Jmon.
[20]
The Yayoi period, starting around 500 BC, saw
the introduction of practices like wet-rice farming,
[21]
a new style of pottery,[22] and metallurgy,
introduced from China and Korea.[23]
The Japanese first appear in written history in the
Chinese Book of Han. According to the Records of
Three Kingdoms, the most powerful kingdom on
the archipelago during the 3rd century was called
Yamataikoku. Buddhism was first introduced to
Japan from Baekje, but the subsequent
development of Japanese Buddhism was primarily
influenced by China.[24] Despite early resistance,
Buddhism was promoted by the ruling class and
gained widespread acceptance beginning in the
Asuka period (592-710).[25]

The Nara period (710-784) of the 8th century

marked the emergence of a strong Japanese state,
centered on an imperial court in Heij-ky (modern
Nara). The Nara period is characterized by the
appearance of a nascent literature as well as the
development of Buddhist-inspired art and
architecture.[26] The smallpox epidemic of 735737
is believed to have killed as much as one-third of
Japan's population.[27] In 784, Emperor Kammu
moved the capital from Nara to Nagaoka-ky
before relocating it to Heian-ky (modern Kyoto) in
794.

Byd-in (1053) is a temple of Pure Land

Buddhism. It was registered to the UNESCO World
Heritage Site.
This marked the beginning of the Heian period
(794-1185), during which a distinctly indigenous
Japanese culture emerged, noted for its art, poetry
and prose. Lady Murasaki's The Tale of Genji and
the lyrics of Japan's national anthem Kimigayo
were written during this time.[28]
Buddhism began to spread during the Heian era
through chiefly two major sect, Tendai by Saich,
and Shingon by Kkai. Pure Land Buddhism greatly
becomes popular in the latter half of the 11th
century.
Feudal era

Japan's feudal era was characterized by the

emergence and dominance of a ruling class of
warriors, the samurai. In 1185, following the defeat
of the Taira clan, sung in the epic Tale of Heike,
samurai Minamoto no Yoritomo was appointed
shogun and established a base of power in
Kamakura. After his death, the Hj clan came to
power as regents for the shoguns. The Zen school
of Buddhism was introduced from China in the
Kamakura period (11851333) and became
popular among the samurai class.[29] The Kamakura
shogunate repelled Mongol invasions in 1274 and
1281, but was eventually overthrown by Emperor
Go-Daigo. Go-Daigo was himself defeated by
Ashikaga Takauji in 1336.

Ginkaku-ji in Kyoto (Higashiyama period in

Muromachi Period, c. 1489). It was registered as
part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Historic
Monuments of Ancient Kyoto".
Ashikaga Takauji establishes the shogunate in
Muromachi, Kyoto. It is a start of Muromachi Period
(1336-1573). The Ashikaga shogunate receives
glory in the age of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, and the
culture based on Zen Buddhism (art of Miyabi) has
prospered. It evolves to Higashiyama Culture, and
has prospered until the 16th century. On the other
hand, the succeeding Ashikaga shogunate failed to
control the feudal warlords (daimyo), and a civil

war (the nin War) began in 1467, opening the

century-long Sengoku period ("Warring States").[30]
During the 16th century, traders and Jesuit
missionaries from Portugal reached Japan for the
first time, initiating direct commercial and cultural
exchange between Japan and the West. Oda
Nobunaga conquered many other daimyo using
European technology and firearms; after he was
assassinated in 1582, his successor Toyotomi
Hideyoshi unified the nation in 1590. Hideyoshi
invaded Korea twice, but following defeats by
Korean and Ming Chinese forces and Hideyoshi's
death, Japanese troops were withdrawn in 1598.[31]
This age is called Azuchi-Momoyama Period (15731603).
Tokugawa Ieyasu served as regent for Hideyoshi's
son and used his position to gain political and
military support. When open war broke out, he
defeated rival clans in the Battle of Sekigahara in
1600. Ieyasu was appointed shogun in 1603 and
established the Tokugawa shogunate at Edo
(modern Tokyo).[32] The Tokugawa shogunate
enacted measures including buke shohatto, as a
code of conduct to control the autonomous
daimyo;[33] and in 1639, the isolationist sakoku
("closed country") policy that spanned the two and
a half centuries of tenuous political unity known as
the Edo period (1603-1868).[34] The study of
Western sciences, known as rangaku, continued
through contact with the Dutch enclave at Dejima
in Nagasaki. The Edo period also gave rise to

kokugaku ("national studies"), the study of Japan

by the Japanese.[35]
Modern era
On March 31, 1854, Commodore Matthew Perry
and the "Black Ships" of the United States Navy
forced the opening of Japan to the outside world
with the Convention of Kanagawa. Subsequent
similar treaties with Western countries in the
Bakumatsu period brought economic and political
crises. The resignation of the shogun led to the
Boshin War and the establishment of a centralized
state nominally unified under the Emperor (the
Meiji Restoration).[36] Adopting Western political,
judicial and military institutions, the Cabinet
organized the Privy Council, introduced the Meiji
Constitution, and assembled the Imperial Diet. The
Meiji Restoration transformed the Empire of Japan
into an industrialized world power that pursued
military conflict to expand its sphere of influence.
After victories in the First Sino-Japanese War
(18941895) and the Russo-Japanese War (1904
1905), Japan gained control of Taiwan, Korea, and
the southern half of Sakhalin.[37] Japan's population
grew from 35 million in 1873 to 70 million in 1935.
[38]

The Meiji Emperor (18681912), in whose name

imperial rule was restored at the end of the
Tokugawa shogunate

The early 20th century saw a brief period of

"Taish democracy" overshadowed by increasing
expansionism and militarization. World War I
enabled Japan, on the side of the victorious Allies,
to widen its influence and territorial holdings. It
continued its expansionist policy by occupying
Manchuria in 1931; as a result of international
condemnation of this occupation, Japan resigned
from the League of Nations two years later. In
1936, Japan signed the Anti-Comintern Pact with
Nazi Germany, and the 1940 Tripartite Pact made it
one of the Axis Powers.[39] In 1941, Japan
negotiated the SovietJapanese Neutrality Pact.[40]
The Empire of Japan invaded other parts of China
in 1937, precipitating the Second Sino-Japanese
War (19371945). In 1940, the Empire then
invaded French Indochina, after which the United
States placed an oil embargo on Japan.[41] On
December 7, 1941, Japan attacked the US naval
base at Pearl Harbor and declared war, bringing
the US into World War II.[42][43] After the Soviet
invasion of Manchuria and the atomic bombings of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, Japan agreed to
an unconditional surrender on August 15.[44] The
war cost Japan and the rest of the Greater East
Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere millions of lives and left
much of the nation's industry and infrastructure
destroyed. The Allies (led by the US) repatriated
millions of ethnic Japanese from colonies and
military camps throughout Asia, largely eliminating
the Japanese empire and restoring the
independence of its conquered territories.[45] The

Allies also convened the International Military

Tribunal for the Far East on May 3, 1946 to
prosecute some Japanese leaders for war crimes.
However, the bacteriological research units and
members of the imperial family involved in the war
were exonerated from criminal prosecutions by the
Supreme Allied Commander despite calls for trials
for both groups.[46]
In 1947, Japan adopted a new constitution
emphasizing liberal democratic practices. The
Allied occupation ended with the Treaty of San
Francisco in 1952[47] and Japan was granted
membership in the United Nations in 1956. Japan
later achieved rapid growth to become the secondlargest economy in the world. This ended in the
mid-1990s when Japan suffered a major recession.
In the beginning of the 21st century, positive
growth has signaled a gradual economic recovery.
[48]
On March 11, 2011, Japan suffered the
strongest earthquake in its recorded history; this
triggered the Fukushima I nuclear accidents, one of
the worst disasters in the history of nuclear power.
[49]

Politics

Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko

Japan is a constitutional monarchy where the
power of the Emperor is very limited. As a
ceremonial figurehead, he is defined by the
constitution as "the symbol of the state and of the
unity of the people". Power is held chiefly by the
Prime Minister of Japan and other elected members
of the Diet, while sovereignty is vested in the
Japanese people.[50] Akihito is the current Emperor
of Japan; Naruhito, Crown Prince of Japan, stands
as next in line to the throne.
Japan's legislative organ is the National Diet, a
bicameral parliament. The Diet consists of a House
of Representatives with 480 seats, elected by
popular vote every four years or when dissolved,
and a House of Councillors of 242 seats, whose
popularly-elected members serve six-year terms.
There is universal suffrage for adults over 20 years
of age,[2] with a secret ballot for all elected offices.
[50]
In 2009, the social liberal Democratic Party of
Japan took power after 54 years of the liberal
conservative Liberal Democratic Party's rule.[51] The
Prime Minister of Japan is the head of government
and is appointed by the Emperor after being
designated by the Diet from among its members.
The Prime Minister is the head of the Cabinet and
appoints and dismisses the Ministers of State.
Naoto Kan was designated by the Diet to replace
Yukio Hatoyama as the Prime Minister of Japan on
June 2, 2010.[52] Although the Prime Minister is

formally appointed by the Emperor, the

Constitution of Japan explicitly requires the
Emperor to appoint whoever is designated by the
Diet. Emperor Akihito formally appointed Kan as
the country's 94th Prime Minister on June 8.[53]
Historically influenced by Chinese law, the
Japanese legal system developed independently
during the Edo period through texts such as
Kujikata Osadamegaki.[54] However, since the late
19th century the judicial system has been largely
based on the civil law of Europe, notably Germany.
For example, in 1896, the Japanese government
established a civil code based on a draft of the
German Brgerliches Gesetzbuch; with postWorld
War II modifications, the code remains in effect.[55]
Statutory law originates in Japan's legislature and
has the rubber stamp of the Emperor. The
Constitution requires that the Emperor promulgate
legislation passed by the Diet, without specifically
giving him the power to oppose legislation.[50]
Japan's court system is divided into four basic
tiers: the Supreme Court and three levels of lower
courts.[56] The main body of Japanese statutory law
is called the Six Codes.[57]
Foreign relations and military

JDS Kong (DDG-173) guided missile destroyer

launching a Standard Missile 3 anti-ballistic missile.

Japan is a member of the G8, APEC, and "ASEAN

Plus Three", and is a participant in the East Asia
Summit. Japan signed a security pact with
Australia in March 2007[58] and with India in
October 2008.[59] It is the world's third largest
donor of official development assistance after the
United States and France, donating US$9.48 billion
in 2009.[60]
Japan has close economic and military relations
with the United States; the US-Japan security
alliance acts as the cornerstone of the nation's
foreign policy.[61] A member state of the United
Nations since 1956, Japan has served as a nonpermanent Security Council member for a total of
19 years, most recently for 2009 and 2010. It is
one of the G4 nations seeking permanent
membership in the Security Council.[62]
Japan is engaged in several territorial disputes with
its neighbors: with Russia over the South Kuril
Islands, with South Korea over the Liancourt Rocks,
with China and Taiwan over the Senkaku Islands,
and with China over the EEZ around
Okinotorishima.[63] Japan also faces an ongoing
dispute with North Korea over the latter's
abduction of Japanese citizens and its nuclear
weapons and missile program (see also Six-party
talks).[64]
Japan maintains one of the largest military budgets
of any country in the world.[65] Japan contributed
non-combatant troops to the Iraq War but

subsequently withdrew its forces.[66] The Japan

Maritime Self-Defense Force is a regular participant
in RIMPAC maritime exercises.[67]
Japan's military is restricted by Article 9 of the
Japanese Constitution, which renounces Japan's
right to declare war or use military force in
international disputes. Japan's military is governed
by the Ministry of Defense, and primarily consists
of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF),
the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) and
the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF). The
forces have been recently used in peacekeeping
operations; the deployment of troops to Iraq
marked the first overseas use of Japan's military
since World War II.[66] Nippon Keidanren has called
on the government to lift the ban on arms exports
so that Japan can join multinational projects such
as the Joint Strike Fighter.[68]
Administrative divisions
Japan consists of forty-seven prefectures, each
overseen by an elected governor, legislature and
administrative bureaucracy. Each prefecture is
further divided into cities, towns and villages.[69]
The nation is currently undergoing administrative
reorganization by merging many of the cities,
towns and villages with each other. This process
will reduce the number of sub-prefecture
administrative regions and is expected to cut
administrative costs.[70]

Geography
Autumn leaves (momiji) at Kongbu-ji on Mount
Kya, a UNESCO World Heritage Site
Japan has a total of 6,852 islands extending along
the Pacific coast of Asia. The country, including all
of the islands it controls, lies between latitudes 24
and 46N, and longitudes 122 and 146E. The
main islands, from north to south, are Hokkaid,
Honsh, Shikoku and Kysh. The Ryky Islands,
including Okinawa, are a chain to the south of
Kysh. Together they are often known as the
Japanese Archipelago.[71] About 73 percent of Japan
is forested, mountainous, and unsuitable for
agricultural, industrial, or residential use.[2][72] As a
result, the habitable zones, mainly located in
coastal areas, have extremely high population
densities. Japan is one of the most densely
populated countries in the world.[73]
The islands of Japan are located in a volcanic zone
on the Pacific Ring of Fire. They are primarily the
result of large oceanic movements occurring over
hundreds of millions of years from the mid-Silurian
to the Pleistocene as a result of the subduction of
the Philippine Sea Plate beneath the continental
Amurian Plate and Okinawa Plate to the south, and
subduction of the Pacific Plate under the Okhotsk

Plate to the north. Japan was originally attached to

the eastern coast of the Eurasian continent. The
subducting plates pulled Japan eastward, opening
the Sea of Japan around 15 million years ago.[74]
Japan has 108 active volcanoes. Destructive
earthquakes, often resulting in tsunami, occur
several times each century.[75] The 1923 Tokyo
earthquake killed over 140,000 people.[76] More
recent major quakes are the 1995 Great Hanshin
earthquake and the 2011 Thoku earthquake, a
9.0-magnitude[77] quake which hit Japan on March
11, 2011, and triggered a large tsunami.[49]
Climate
The climate of Japan is predominantly temperate,
but varies greatly from north to south. Japan's
geographical features divide it into six principal
climatic zones: Hokkaid, Sea of Japan, Central
Highland, Seto Inland Sea, Pacific Ocean, and
Ryky Islands. The northernmost zone, Hokkaido,
has a temperate climate with long, cold winters
and cool summers. Precipitation is not heavy, but
the islands usually develop deep snowbanks in the
winter. In the Sea of Japan zone on Honsh's west
coast, northwest winter winds bring heavy
snowfall. In the summer, the region is cooler than
the Pacific area, though it sometimes experiences
extremely hot temperatures because of the foehn
wind. The Central Highland has a typical inland
climate, with large temperature differences
between summer and winter, and between day
and night; precipitation is light. The mountains of

the Chgoku and Shikoku regions shelter the Seto

Inland Sea from seasonal winds, bringing mild
weather year-round. The Pacific coast experiences
cold winters with little snowfall and hot, humid
summers because of the southeast seasonal wind.
The Ryukyu Islands have a subtropical climate,
with warm winters and hot summers. Precipitation
is very heavy, especially during the rainy season.
[78]

The average winter temperature in Japan is 5.1 C

(41.2 F) and the average summer temperature is
25.2 C (77.4 F).[79] The highest temperature ever
measured in Japan40.9 C (105.6 F)was
recorded on August 16, 2007.[80] The main rainy
season begins in early May in Okinawa, and the
rain front gradually moves north until reaching
Hokkaid in late July. In most of Honsh, the rainy
season begins before the middle of June and lasts
about six weeks. In late summer and early autumn,
typhoons often bring heavy rain.[81]
Biodiversity
Japan has nine forest ecoregions which reflect the
climate and geography of the islands. They range
from subtropical moist broadleaf forests in the
Ryky and Bonin Islands, to temperate broadleaf
and mixed forests in the mild climate regions of
the main islands, to temperate coniferous forests
in the cold, winter portions of the northern islands.
[82]
Japan has over 90,000 species of wildlife,
including the brown bear, the Japanese macaque,

the Japanese raccoon dog, and the Japanese giant

salamander.[83] A large network of National Parks
has been established to protect important areas of
flora and fauna as well as thirty-seven Ramsar
wetland sites.[84][85]
Environment
In the period of rapid economic growth after World
War II, environmental policies were downplayed by
the government and industrial corporations; as a
result, environmental pollution was widespread in
the 1950s and 1960s. Responding to rising concern
about the problem, the government introduced
several environmental protection laws in 1970.[86]
The oil crisis in 1973 also encouraged the efficient
use of energy due to Japan's lack of natural
resources.[87] Current environmental issues include
urban air pollution (NOx, suspended particulate
matter, and toxics), waste management, water
eutrophication, nature conservation, climate
change, chemical management and international
co-operation for conservation.[88]
Japan is one of the world's leaders in the
development of new environment-friendly
technologies, and is ranked 20th best in the world
in the 2010 Environmental Performance Index.[89]
As a signatory of the Kyoto Protocol, and host of
the 1997 conference which created it, Japan is
under treaty obligation to reduce its carbon dioxide
emissions and to take other steps to curb climate
change.[90]

Economy

The Tokyo Stock Exchange, the largest stock

exchange in Asia.[91]
Some of the structural features for Japan's
economic growth developed in the Edo period,
such as the network of transport routes, by road
and water, and the futures contracts, banking and
insurance of the Osaka rice brokers.[92] During the
Meiji period from 1868, Japan expanded
economically with the embrace of the market
economy.[93] Many of today's enterprises were
founded at the time, and Japan emerged as the
most developed nation in Asia.[94] The period of
overall real economic growth from the 1960s to the
1980s has been called the Japanese post-war
economic miracle: it averaged 7.5 percent in the
1960s and 1970s, and 3.2 percent in the 1980s
and early 1990s.[95] Growth slowed markedly in the
1990s during what the Japanese call the Lost
Decade, largely because of the after-effects of the
Japanese asset price bubble and domestic policies
intended to wring speculative excesses from the
stock and real estate markets. Government efforts
to revive economic growth met with little success
and were further hampered by the global
slowdown in 2000.[2] The economy showed strong
signs of recovery after 2005; GDP growth for that
year was 2.8 percent, surpassing the growth rates

of the US and European Union during the same

period.[96]
As of 2010, Japan is the third largest national
economy in the world, after the United States and
China, in terms of both nominal GDP and
purchasing power parity.[97][98] As of January 2011,
Japan's public debt was more than 200 percent of
its annual gross domestic product, the largest of
any nation in the world. The service sector
accounts for three quarters of the gross domestic
product.[99] Japan has a large industrial capacity,
and is home to some of the largest and most
technologically advanced producers of motor
vehicles, electronics, machine tools, steel and
nonferrous metals, ships, chemical substances,
textiles, and processed foods. Agricultural
businesses in Japan cultivate 13 percent of Japan's
land, and Japan accounts for nearly 15 percent of
the global fish catch, second only to China.[2] As of
2010, Japan's labor force consisted of some 65.9
million workers.[100] Japan has a low unemployment
rate of around four percent. Almost one in six
Japanese, or 20 million people, lived in poverty in
2007.[101] Housing in Japan is characterized by
limited land supply in urban areas.[102]

A plug-in hybrid car manufactured by Toyota, one

of the world's largest carmakers. Japan is the
second-largest producer of automobiles in the
world.[103]
Japan's exports amounted to US$4,210 per capita
in 2005. Japan's main export markets are China
(18.88 percent), the United States (16.42 percent),
South Korea (8.13 percent), Taiwan (6.27 percent)
and Hong Kong (5.49 percent) as of 2009. Its main
exports are transportation equipment, motor
vehicles, electronics, electrical machinery and
chemicals.[2] Japan's main import markets as of
2009 are China (22.2 percent), the US (10.96
percent), Australia (6.29 percent), Saudi Arabia
(5.29 percent), United Arab Emirates (4.12
percent), South Korea (3.98 percent) and Indonesia
(3.95 percent). Its main imports are machinery and
equipment, fossil fuels, foodstuffs (in particular
beef), chemicals, textiles and raw materials for its
industries.[104] By market share measures, domestic
markets are the least open of any OECD country.
[105]
Junichiro Koizumi's administration began some
pro-competition reforms, and foreign investment in
Japan has soared.[106]
Japan ranks 12th of 178 countries in the 2008 Ease
of Doing Business Index and has one of the
smallest tax revenues of the developed world. The
Japanese variant of capitalism has many distinct
features: keiretsu enterprises are influential, and
lifetime employment and seniority-based career
advancement are relatively common in the

Japanese work environment.[105][107] Japanese

companies are known for management methods
like "The Toyota Way", and shareholder activism is
rare.[108] Some of the largest enterprises in Japan
include Toyota, Nintendo, NTT DoCoMo, Canon,
Honda, Takeda Pharmaceutical, Sony, Panasonic,
Toshiba, Sharp, Nippon Steel, Nippon Oil, and
Seven & I Holdings Co.[109] It has some of the
world's largest banks, and the Tokyo Stock
Exchange (known for its Nikkei 225 and Topix
indices) stands as the second largest in the world
by market capitalization.[110] Japan is home to 326
companies from the Forbes Global 2000 or 16.3
percent (as of 2006).[111]
Science and technology

H-II Transfer Vehicle

Japan is a leading nation in scientific research,
particularly technology, machinery and biomedical
research. Nearly 700,000 researchers share a
US$130 billion research and development budget,
the third largest in the world.[112] Japan is a world
leader in fundamental scientific research, having
produced fifteen Nobel laureates in either physics,
chemistry or medicine,[113] three Fields medalists,
[114]
and one Gauss Prize laureate.[115] Some of
Japan's more prominent technological contributions
are in the fields of electronics, automobiles,
machinery, earthquake engineering, industrial

robotics, optics, chemicals, semiconductors and

metals. Japan leads the world in robotics
production and use, possessing more than half
(402,200 of 742,500) of the world's industrial
robots.[116]
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is
Japan's space agency; it conducts space,
planetary, and aviation research, and leads
development of rockets and satellites. It is a
participant in the International Space Station: the
Japanese Experiment Module (Kibo) was added to
the station during Space Shuttle assembly flights
in 2008.[117] Japan's plans in space exploration
include: launching a space probe to Venus,
Akatsuki;[118][119] developing the Mercury
Magnetospheric Orbiter to be launched in 2013;[120]
[121]
and building a moon base by 2030.[122] On
September 14, 2007, it launched lunar explorer
"SELENE" (Selenological and Engineering
Explorer) on an H-IIA (Model H2A2022) carrier
rocket from Tanegashima Space Center. SELENE is
also known as Kaguya, after the lunar princess of
The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter.[123] Kaguya is the
largest lunar mission since the Apollo program. Its
purpose is to gather data on the moon's origin and
evolution. It entered a lunar orbit on October 4,[124]
[125]
flying at an altitude of about 100 km (62 mi).
[126]
The probe's mission was ended when it was
deliberately crashed by JAXA into the Moon on 11
June 2009.[127]
Infrastructure

Nozomi Shinkansen or 'Bullet train' at Tokyo

Station[128]
As of 2008, 46.4 percent of energy in Japan is
produced from petroleum, 21.4 percent from coal,
16.7 percent from natural gas, 9.7 percent from
nuclear power, and 2.9 percent from hydro power.
Nuclear power produces 22.5 percent of Japan's
electricity.[129] Given its heavy dependence on
imported energy,[130] Japan has aimed to diversify
its sources and maintain high levels of energy
efficiency.[131]
Japan's road spending has been extensive.[132] Its
1.2 million kilometers of paved road are the main
means of transportation.[133] A single network of
high-speed, divided, limited-access toll roads
connects major cities and is operated by tollcollecting enterprises. New and used cars are
inexpensive; car ownership fees and fuel levies are
used to promote energy efficiency. However, at
just 50 percent of all distance traveled, car usage
is the lowest of all G8 countries.[134]
Dozens of Japanese railway companies compete in
regional and local passenger transportation
markets; major companies include seven JR
enterprises, Kintetsu Corporation, Seibu Railway
and Keio Corporation. Some 250 high-speed
Shinkansen trains connect major cities and
Japanese trains are known for their punctuality. [135]
Proposals for a new Maglev route between Tokyo

and Osaka are at an advanced stage.[136] There are

173 airports in Japan; the largest domestic airport,
Haneda Airport, is Asia's second-busiest airport.[137]
The largest international gateways are Narita
International Airport, Kansai International Airport
and Chbu Centrair International Airport.[138]
Nagoya Port is the country's largest and busiest
port, accounting for 10 percent of Japan's trade
value.[139]
Demographics
Japan's population is estimated at around 127.3
million.[2] Japanese society is linguistically and
culturally homogeneous with small populations of
foreign workers.[140] Zainichi Koreans,[141] Zainichi
Chinese, Filipinos, Japanese Brazilians,[142] and
Japanese Peruvians are among the small minority
groups in Japan.[143] In 2003, there were about
136,000 Western expatriates.[144] The most
dominant native ethnic group is the Yamato
people; primary minority groups include the
indigenous Ainu[145] and Ryukyuan peoples, as well
as social minority groups like the burakumin.[146]
Japan has the longest life expectancy rate in the
world.[13][14] The Japanese population is rapidly
aging as a result of a postWorld War II baby boom
followed by a decrease in birth rates. In 2009,
about 22.7 percent of the population was over 65,
by 2050 almost 40 percent of the population will
be aged 65 and over, as projected in December
2006.[147] The changes in demographic structure

have created a number of social issues,

particularly a potential decline in workforce
population and increase in the cost of social
security benefits like the public pension plan. A
growing number of younger Japanese are
preferring not to marry or have families.[148] Japan's
population is expected to drop to 95 million by
2050,[147] demographers and government planners
are currently in a heated debate over how to cope
with this problem.[148] Immigration and birth
incentives are sometimes suggested as a solution
to provide younger workers to support the nation's
aging population.[149][150] Japan has a steady flow of
about 15,000 immigrants per year.[151] According to
the UNHCR, in 2007 Japan accepted just 41
refugees for resettlement, while the US took in
50,000.[152]
Japan suffers from a high suicide rate.[153][154] In
2009, the number of suicides exceeded 30,000 for
the twelfth straight year.[155] Suicide is the leading
cause of death for people under 30.[156]

Religion
Torii of Itsukushima Shrine near Hiroshima, one of
the Three Views of Japan and a UNESCO World
Heritage Site
Upper estimates suggest that 8496 percent of the
Japanese population subscribe to Buddhism or
Shinto, including a large number of followers of a

syncretism of both religions.[2][158] However, these

estimates are based on people affiliated with a
temple, rather than the number of true believers.
Other studies have suggested that only 30 percent
of the population identify themselves as belonging
to a religion.[159] Nevertheless the level of
participation remains high, especially during
festivals and occasions such as the first shrine visit
of the New Year. Taoism and Confucianism from
China have also influenced Japanese beliefs and
customs.[160] Fewer than one percent of Japanese
are Christian.[161] In addition, since the mid-19th
century numerous new religious movements have
emerged in Japan.[162]

Languages
More than 99 percent of the population speaks
Japanese as their first language.[2] It is an
agglutinative language distinguished by a system
of honorifics reflecting the hierarchical nature of
Japanese society, with verb forms and particular
vocabulary indicating the relative status of speaker
and listener. Japanese writing uses kanji (Chinese
characters) and two sets of kana (syllabaries based
on simplified Chinese characters), as well as the
Latin alphabet and Arabic numerals.[163]
Besides Japanese, the Ryukyuan languages, also
part of the Japonic language family, are spoken in
Okinawa; however, few children learn these
languages.[164] The Ainu language, which is

unrelated to Japanese or any other known

language, is moribund, with only a few elderly
native speakers remaining in Hokkaido.[165] Most
public and private schools require students to take
courses in both Japanese and English.[166]
Education

Announcement of the results of the entrance

examinations to the University of Tokyo
Primary schools, secondary schools and
universities were introduced in 1872 as a result of
the Meiji Restoration.[167] Since 1947, compulsory
education in Japan comprises elementary and
middle school, which together last for nine years
(from age 6 to age 15). Almost all children
continue their education at a three-year senior
high school, and, according to the MEXT, as of
2005 about 75.9 percent of high school graduates
attend a university, junior college, trade school, or
other higher education institution.[168] The two topranking universities in Japan are the University of
Tokyo and Kyoto University.[169][170] The Programme
for International Student Assessment coordinated
by the OECD currently ranks the overall knowledge
and skills of Japanese 15-year-olds as sixth best in
the world.[171]

Health
In Japan, health care is provided by national and
local governments. Payment for personal medical
services is offered through a universal health
insurance system that provides relative equality of
access, with fees set by a government committee.
People without insurance through employers can
participate in a national health insurance program
administered by local governments. Since 1973, all
elderly persons have been covered by
government-sponsored insurance.[172] Patients are
free to select the physicians or facilities of their
choice.[173]
Culture

Kinkaku-ji or 'The Temple of the Golden Pavilion' in

Kyoto, Special Historic Site, Special Place of Scenic
Beauty, and UNESCO World Heritage Site; its
torching by a monk in 1950 is the subject of a
novel by Mishima
Main articles: Culture of Japan, Japanese popular
culture, and Japanese folklore
Japanese culture has evolved greatly from its
origins. Contemporary culture combines influences
from Asia, Europe and North America. Traditional
Japanese arts include crafts such as ceramics,
textiles, lacquerware, swords and dolls;
performances of bunraku, kabuki, noh, dance, and
rakugo; and other practices, the tea ceremony,

ikebana, martial arts, calligraphy, origami, onsen,

Geisha and games. Japan has a developed system
for the protection and promotion of both tangible
and intangible Cultural Properties and National
Treasures.[174] Fourteen sites have been inscribed
on the UNESCO World Heritage List.[175]
Art

The Great Wave off Kanagawa, one of a series of

woodblock prints by Hokusai
The Shrines of Ise have been celebrated as the
prototype of Japanese architecture.[176] Largely of
wood, traditional housing and many temple
buildings see the use of tatami mats and sliding
doors that break down the distinction between
rooms and indoor and outdoor space.[177] Japanese
sculpture, largely of wood, and Japanese painting
are among the oldest of the Japanese arts, with
early figurative paintings dating back to at least
300 BC. The history of Japanese painting exhibits
synthesis and competition between native
Japanese aesthetics and adaptation of imported
ideas. The interaction between Japanese and
European art has been significant: for example
ukiyo-e prints, which began to be exported in the
19th century in the movement known as Japonism,
had a significant influence on the development of
modern art in the West, most notably on postImpressionism.[178] Famous ukiyo-e artists include

Hokusai and Hiroshige. The fusion of traditional

woodblock printing and Western art led to the
creation of manga, a comic book format that is
now popular within and outside Japan.[179] Mangainfluenced animation for television and film is
called anime. Japanese-made video game consoles
have been popular since the 1980s.[180]
Music
Japanese music is eclectic and diverse. Many
instruments, such as the koto, were introduced in
the 9th and 10th centuries. The accompanied
recitative of the Noh drama dates from the 14th
century and the popular folk music, with the guitarlike shamisen, from the sixteenth.[181] Western
classical music, introduced in the late 19th
century, now forms an integral part of Japanese
culture. The imperial court ensemble Gagaku has
influenced the work of some modern Western
composers.[182] Notable classical composers from
Japan include Toru Takemitsu and Rentaro Taki.
Popular music in post-war Japan has been heavily
influenced by American and European trends,
which has led to the evolution of J-pop, or Japanese
popular music.[183] Karaoke is the most widely
practiced cultural activity in Japan. A 1993 survey
by the Cultural Affairs Agency found that more
Japanese had sung karaoke that year than had
participated in traditional pursuits such as flower
arranging (ikebana) or tea ceremonies.[184]
Literature

12th-century illustrated handscroll of The Tale of

Genji, a National Treasure
The earliest works of Japanese literature include
the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki chronicles and the
Man'ysh poetry anthology, all from the 8th
century and written in Chinese characters.[185][186] In
the early Heian period, the system of phonograms
known as kana (Hiragana and Katakana) was
developed. The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter is
considered the oldest Japanese narrative.[187] An
account of Heian court life is given in The Pillow
Book by Sei Shnagon, while The Tale of Genji by
Murasaki Shikibu is often described as the world's
first novel.[188][189]
During the Edo period, the chnin ("townspeople")
overtook the samurai aristocracy as producers and
consumers of literature. The popularity of the
works of Saikaku, for example, reveals this change
in readership and authorship, while Bash
revivified the poetic tradition of the Kokinsh with
his haikai (haiku) and wrote the poetic travelogue
Oku no Hosomichi.[190] The Meiji era saw the
decline of traditional literary forms as Japanese
literature integrated Western influences. Natsume
Sseki and Mori gai were the first "modern"
novelists of Japan, followed by Rynosuke
Akutagawa, Jun'ichir Tanizaki, Yasunari Kawabata,
Yukio Mishima and, more recently, Haruki
Murakami. Japan has two Nobel Prize-winning

authorsYasunari Kawabata (1968) and Kenzaburo

Oe (1994).[187]

Breakfast at a ryokan or inn

Cuisine
The primary staple is Japanese rice. In the early
modern era ingredients such as red meats that had
previously not been widely used in Japan were
introduced. Japanese cuisine offers a vast array of
regional specialties that use traditional recipes and
local ingredients. The Michelin Guide has awarded
Japanese cities more Michelin stars than the rest of
the world combined.[191]
Sports

Sumo wrestlers form around the referee during the

ring-entering ceremony
Traditionally, sumo is considered Japan's national
sport.[192] Japanese martial arts such as judo, karate
and kendo are also widely practiced and enjoyed
by spectators in the country. After the Meiji
Restoration, many Western sports were introduced
in Japan and began to spread through the
education system.[193] Japan hosted the Summer
Olympics in Tokyo in 1964. Japan has hosted the
Winter Olympics twice: Nagano in 1998 and
Sapporo in 1972.[194]

The Japanese professional baseball league was

established in 1936.[195] Today baseball is the most
popular spectator sport in the country. Since the
establishment of the Japan Professional Football
League in 1992, association football has also
gained a wide following.[196] Japan was a venue of
the Intercontinental Cup from 1981 to 2004 and
co-hosted the 2002 FIFA World Cup with South
Korea.[197] Japan has one of the most successful
football teams in Asia, winning the Asian Cup four
times.[198] Golf is also popular in Japan,[199] as are
forms of auto racing like the Super GT series and
Formula Nippon.[200]